The Indian Government has recently been the victim of attempts by Chinese state-backed hackers to retrieve classified information from government officials, pushing their security agencies to rethink mobile policies. With BlackBerry being the device of choice for the public sector, it’s important that governments can trust the platform to protect their data in light of recent major cyber attacks.
In India, as well as many countries, officers at the Prime Minister’s Office and other ministries like Defence, Home and External Affairs have linked their official email addresses to their BlackBerry devices. When news of this spread, a senior officer from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), wishing anonymity, called it a big security goof-up. “There is a secure Internet network for ministers and officials working in sensitive departments. But it’s difficult to put up similar security parameters in BlackBerry and other such devices like VoIP,” he said.
Meanwhile, sources also revealed intelligence agencies have asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Department of Telecom (DoT) to review the situation and prescribe stricter security measures.
